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U.S. News - Best Lawyers® Releases 2017 "Best Law Firms" List

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers, for the seventh consecutive year, announce the "Best Law Firms" rankings.

Firms included in the 2017 "Best Law Firms" list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

"U.S. News is the global authority in rankings," says Tim Smart, executive editor of U.S. News & World Report. "Evaluating law firms is a natural extension of what we do best."

The 2017 rankings are based on the highest number of participating firms and highest number of client ballots on record. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have a lawyer listed in The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the U.S. Over 10,000 attorneys provided more than 800,000 law firm assessments, and over 10,000 clients provided more than 90,000 evaluations.

"For seven years now, we have added law firm rankings to our rankings of individual lawyers," says Steven Naifeh, CEO and co-founder of Best Lawyers. "It has been a daunting task. This year we reviewed 13,803 law firms across the United States and across 122 practice areas, for a total of 2,005 firms receiving a national law firm ranking. Each year, we have expanded our reach while also trying to simplify the process, as much as possible, for the law firms that provide us with the information that we use to create the rankings. We are proud that the legal profession has come to view our law firm rankings each year with such deep and widespread respect."

Ranked firms, presented in tiers, are listed on a national and/or metropolitan scale. Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for its abilities, its professionalism and its integrity.